Posted on 09/20/2009 8:18:36 PM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
Yellow Springs company embraces niche and club publications
YELLOW SPRINGS — In the summer of 2008, Benjamin Smith and Vicki McClellan spotted a small magazine out of Fort Myers, Fla., calling itself Patriots of the American Revolution.
After seeing it, they knew two things.
First, they liked the magazine, its exploration of a certain corner of history, its direction and feel.
Second, they knew their company, Yellow Springs custom publisher Ertel Publishing, could make it better.
The magazine’s owner, Three Patriots LLC, has hired Ertel Publishing to design and produce the magazine.
But Three Patriots and Ertel Publishing aren’t exactly disparate companies. Therein lies a tale.
“It’s kind of an interesting and convoluted story,” said Smith, an Ertel Publishing editor. Ertel colleague Vicki McClellan agreed with a laugh.
Making good things better in the world of niche or club magazine publishing is what Ertel Publishing does from offices on tree-lined High Street.
Ertel owns two magazines, Antique Power and Vintage Truck. The company also custom-publishes magazines for clients, mostly historical or enthusiast publications, including Hart Parr Oliver Collector, a publication devoted to Hart-Parr and Oliver farm equipment.
Pat Ertel (founder and owner of Ertel Publishing), Smith and McClellan liked Patriots of the American Revolution enough to form their own separate limited liability company — the aforementioned Three Patriots — and buy the magazine. Former publisher T.M. Jacobs remains the magazine’s editor. Smith is listed on the masthead as associate editor, McClellan as promotions director.
The publication’s September/October 2009 edition is out, and the work of winning a wider audience begins.
“The magazine had never been marketed,” McClellan said.
McClellan said page count has been boosted 30 pages. The magazine will come out every two months instead of quarterly. And there are new departments and features throughout.
If print is dead, then the people at Ertel Publishing haven’t received the memo. They don’t shy away from the challenges of putting out a magazine. And there are rewards. Historical and enthusiast magazines always will play a role educating and uniting readers, say Smith and McClellan.
“There will always be a place for paper in your hand,” McClellan said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
About Ertel Publishing
• Magazines: Antique Power, 50,000-55,000 copies bimonthly; Vintage Truck, 30,000 bimonthly; Hart Parr Oliver Collector, 6,000-7,000 bimonthly; Patriots of the American Revolution, 1,000 bimonthly. (When Ertel bought it, circulation was 140.)
• Employees: 10 fulltime.
• Revenue: $2 million in latest fiscal year, down about 14 percent.
• History: Founded in 1989 after Pat Ertel, then a Wright-Patterson Air Force Base engineer, decided to start a magazine devoted to vintage tractors after being stuck behind a tractor.
Source: Ertel Publishing
Well thats great. I grew up about a stone throw away from Yellow Springs and that little town is kinda a commie town with the Antioch College ad all.
1,000 subscribers?? at what price?
I do not know...but its previous number of subscribers was 140. Could not been much of a mag. The article does state they presently increased the page count to 30. So I surmise it would get larger as the subscriptions grow.
I think it said BY 30 pages, not to 30 pages
Civil War Times
$25.00/yr (6 issues)
Patriots of the American Revolution
Payments made with credit cards will receive a $2.00 discount! 27.95 ?yr (6 iisues)
Not too bad.
Yes, you are correct...(increased BY 30 pages)
PUBLISHER: Weider History Group, Inc Business Information
Weider History Group, Inc is a private company categorized under Magazines: publishing only, not printed on site and located in Leesburg, VA. Our records show it was established in 2006 and incorporated in Nevada.
Ah. Sorry. I thought I remembered the company thats owns the WashTimes printing it.
lol...you're making me refreshedmy search skills... ;)
Yep. I have family members there. Very nice but very left-leaning. (A good restaurant or two, though) Nice to see this story.
Free Republic should come out with a monthly magazine. It can be about politics and all things conservative.
Free Republic should come out with a monthly magazine. It can be about politics and all things conservative.
I quite agree....FR contains a unique collection of gifted authors/writers...i.e. LS, joannie_f, bettyboop, writer33, jeff head etc. They could periodically contribute an article.
Meanwhile I'm just watching the death of the liberal media...lol
Yes, but it's also the home town of DeWine Seed Company and Mike DeWine (see my profile page). Several of us had a great time campaigning openly and visibly for Barry Goldwater while I was there. Even got our picture in the Dayton Daily News when Barry's train made a whistle-stop nearby.
-- FreeK, Antioch class of '66, Winner, H-class automatic, Kilcare Dragstrip, Xenia, 1963, Surveyer, Fairborn-Yellow Springs Pike, 1965
That must have been fun! :)
ping for later
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